Tag Archives: oven

Winter. It’s still here and all the comfort food you’ve been indulging in probably isn’t doing much for your waistline (we’re wearing this season’s finest mesh shorts at this point). Enter the roasted squash sandwich: well portioned, extremely flavorful, filling, and somewhat healthy as long as you use the meat and cheese more as garnish than a centerpiece. It’s a hearty and handheld meal that may even have you wishing for the groundhog to see his shadow.

Peel the squash, halve it, and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. Once both sides are clean, slice them cross-wise into 1/2 inch pieces. Spread them evenly across your baking sheet.

Slice the pieces as uniformly as possible so they cook evenly.

Peel and halve the onion, then slice it crosswise into 1/4 inch slices and place them on the baking sheet as well. It’ll probably be a little crowded at this point but try not to overlap the veggies too much.

Peel and mince the garlic cloves and sprinkle them across all of the veggies. Drizzle your olive oil over the whole lot and give it a dusting of the allspice, cinnamon, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes.

Season the veggies more aggressively if you don’t plan to use condiments for your sandwich.

While things are roasting you can prepare your other fillings. Cut your apples in half, remove the cores and slice them into thin pieces. Slice the fontina as well and set aside.

On a separate baking sheet lay out 4 pieces of your bread to get it ready for the fillings. Once 20 minutes has passed, flip your veggies and pop them back in the oven for another 15 minutes or until they’re nicely browned and fork tender.

When the squash and onions are done, layer them on the bread and then place your proscuitto, apples, fontina, and other slice of bread on top. Pop them back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted nicely and the bread is lightly toasted. Cut them in half and serve with some whole grain or honey mustard if desired.

Try to avoid piling your sandwich fillings too high so everything doesn’t squeeze out the sides when you bite it.

From here on out you will only want to eat things out of little meat cups.

Fall is awesome. It’s not too cold, not too hot, you have an excuse to start making heartier meals, and watching football all day totally counts as an activity. It’s the total package, just like these little babies. Prosciutto cups always seemed difficult to us until we actually tried them (hint: it’s easy). The salty richness of the pig is balanced nicely by the freshness of the ricotta, and the whole thing is lifted by the sweet and slightly acidic balsamic glazed figs. Better stocked grocery stores will have fresh figs into early November so get on it and up your appetizer/snack game forever.

Pull the rosemary leaves off the sprigs and mince them up. Sprinkle some salt over the minced leaves and scrape them against the cutting board as you would if you were making a garlic paste.

Crush up the rosemary a bit to make it infuse better with the honey.

Dump the rosemary into a small cup or container and pour the honey over it. Let that sit on the back of the stove to draw ambient heat and meld flavors while you cook everything else.

To make the cups, take each slice of prosciutto and line each muffin compartment in the tin making sure that the bottom is completely covered. The end result should look like a cupcake wrapper. The prosciutto will inevitably split several times when you first attempt this. Resist the urge to put your fist through a wall and just be gentle and patient when handling each piece. Pop these in the oven for about 8-10 minutes or until they’re crisp.

The first few will frustrate the hell out of you and fall apart. The last few you will be able to do blindfolded.

While the cups are cooking place your frying pan over medium heat. Add the balsamic vinegar and maple sugar and stir everything together. Let the vinegar reduce for about 8-10 minutes, stirring regularly so it doesn’t burn on the bottom.

Keeping an eye on your vinegar while it reduces, remove the stems from the figs and slice them in half lengthwise. Once the sauce has thickened a bit place the figs in the pan, sliced side down. Let them sit and cook for 5 minutes; resist the urge to move them so they caramelize a bit.

The reduced balsamic will nicely balance the sweetness of the figs.

Pull your prosciutto out of the oven when it’s crispy and set them aside to cool.

Flip your fruit and cook for another 5 minutes to soften them through. Turn the heat off, pluck the figs out of the vinegar and set them aside to cool slightly.

Carefully pull your prosciutto cups out of the tin and fill each one with a spoonful of ricotta. Place a fig on top of the cheese, sliced side up. Drizzle a little balsamic from the pan over top if you wish and then drizzle some of your rosemary honey over the whole lot for a sweet and earthy accent.

We’ve been trying to expand our veggie vocabulary a bit lately and the Greenmarket is just the place to inspire. A recent trip yielded some gorgeous looking French breakfast radishes that were practically begging us to take them home. Oh little madames and monsieurs, how about a little menage a trois with some anchovies and butter? Oui, oui. Mind if our friends butter and capers watch? No? Now it’s a party.

Preheat the oven to 450° F. If you haven’t taken the butter out of the fridge yet do so, you’ll want that at room temperature.

Scrub the radishes under cold water to remove any excess dirt, pull of any questionable leaves but keep the rest on. Dry the radishes and place them in your skillet to await their fate.

In a small mixing bowl add the butter, 1 TSP capers, 3 anchovy fillets and the zest of a lemon.

So zesty.

Squeeze in the juice of half of said lemon and stir the whole lot together, taking care to mash the unholy hell out of the anchovies so they incorporate into the butter. Give it a taste and adjust it to your liking; we typically add more anchovy and capers to brine things up a bit.

Whip it good.

Toss the radishes in extra virgin olive oil until everything’s evenly coated. Sprinkle sea salt and pepper over top and toss another anchovy fillet into the mix. It’ll melt down while the roots are roasting and lend a subtle umami kick to the veggies. Pop ‘em in the oven for 12 minutes, turn ‘em and cook for another 12 minutes.

Coat the radishes evenly.

After the cooking time is up turn the oven off, spread some of the anchovy butter over each radish and pop them back in the oven for another minute to let everything melt together. Plate ‘em up and serve with leftover butter for dipping.

Potatoes can sometimes make us feel blasé. Mashed? Mixed ‘em with everything possible. Baked? Ho hum. Roasted? Always. But a recent sale on meyer lemons inspired us. A simple citrusy twist with some fragrant rosemary takes these tubers to the next level. Pair them with a nice roasted chicken or some Mediterranean fare to keep things interesting.

1 lb fingerling potatoes (you can use any kind of potato but fingerlings or smaller potatoes make for a more interesting presentation) ($2.49/lb)

4 cloves garlic ($2.99/lb)

2 meyer lemons ($0.50-$1/each)

4 large rosemary sprigs ($1.50/sprig or bunch)

3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil ($8.99/32 oz)

3 TBSP whole grain mustard ($4.99/8oz jar)

Salt

Pepper

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 415° F.

Wash your potatoes well making sure to scrub off any dirt. Put them in the baking pan and set them aside.

Peel and crush the garlic with the flat site of your knife. Mince it up and sprinkle a generous amount of salt on top. Using the edge of your knife, press down bit by bit on the pile of garlic crushing it into an even finer paste. When you get to the end of the pile consolidate everything and keep crushing until smooth. Toss the garlic on top of the potatoes.

Add more salt if you need extra abrasiveness.

Wash your rosemary sprigs and remove the leaves from the stems. Give them a rough chop and toss them in with the potatoes as well. Pour in the olive oil and spoon in the whole grain mustard. Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper and still up the whole shebang until everything’s evenly coated.

We like ours with a little extra mustard to keep things interesting.

Wash the lemon and cut it into eighths, being careful to remove as many seeds as you can. Throw those suckers in with the potato mix and toss it in the oven. Let it roast up for 20 minutes and then give it a good stir. Pop it back in the oven for another 20 minute or until the spuds are fork tender. Serve with a little butter or sour cream if you desire.

Seriously, these little suckers have a ton of seeds. Remove as many as you can before you throw them in.

The other white meat can sometimes fall victim to being boring, which is a fate we blame on people with no imagination. We turn this one up to 11 by soaking it with a badass brine and stuffing it full of home cooking favorites like, well, stuffing and cranberries. It’s almost a complete meal in and of itself but that shouldn’t stop you from pairing it with some mashed potatoes or roasted root vegetables to cap things off.

16 oz brown ale (price varies)(we actually used an old autumn ale, you can use English ale, winter ale or almost anything other than an overly hoppy IPA or barley wine)

2 C apple cider ($3.49/gallon)

1/3 C kosher salt ($2.29/48 oz box)

1/3 C pure grade A maple syrup (about $7/8 oz)

8 large rosemary sprigs ($1.50/sprig or bunch)

1 TBSP whole black peppercorns ($3.69/2.25 oz jar)

1/2 C dried cranberries ($2.99/6 oz bag)

1/2 C walnuts (about $8.99/lb)

1 box of instant stuffing (about $2.50/6 oz box) (don’t judge us, just be sure you check the instructions on the box, the recipe typically requires a few tablespoons of butter and water)

2 large apples ($2.99/lb)

Preparation:

You’ll want to plan ahead a bit on this one because you’ll want to brine the pork loin for at least 2 hours before you cook it. 6-10 hours is ideal.

For the brine combine your beer, cider, maple syrup & salt in the 5 QT pot. Whisk it all together, place it over high heat and bring it to a boil, stirring regularly until the syrup and salt are dissolved.

Beer here!

Once it’s boiling, transfer the brine to your large container add a tray of ice cubes to accelerate the cooling process and thin it out a bit. Pop it in the fridge until it’s chilled (this should take about 45 minutes to an hour).

While you’re waiting for things to cool, trim any excess fat off of your pork loin and give it a good rinse.

When your brine is cold, place the pork in it an add the rosemary & peppercorns. Cover the dish and pop it back in the fridge for at least 2 hours; the longer you leave it in the more tender it’ll get.

Make sure you have enough brine to fully cover your meat.

When you can’t holdout any longer preheat the oven to 375°F and take the pork out of the brine. Rinse it, pat it dry, and put it on a plate to bring it to room temperature (at least 15 minutes). Save the rosemary sprigs for later.

While you’re waiting for the pork to warm, cook up your stuffing. This typically involves bringing water and butter to a boil, stirring in the stuffing and letting it sit in a covered pot for 5-8 minutes. Chop up the walnuts and stir them in along with the dried cranberries.

Chop the walnuts into manageable chunks but be careful not to pulverize them.

When the pork is un-chilled, butterfly it (a.k.a. cut it almost in half lengthwise so you can open it like a sub roll).

Slice up your apples into thin pieces, lengthwise and use them to line each interior side of the loin. Spoon in your stuffing and lay the rosemary sprigs from the brine across the top.

Be careful not to over-stuff the meat, you need to be able to tie it up without too much excess.

Squeeze everything together and tie up the loin with butcher’s twine.

It's a good idea to pre-cut your twine so you don't have to do it with porky hands.

Pop the pork in the oven and cook it for about 45-60 minutes until it registers at about 165° F on your meat thermometer.

As with all meat let it rest for 5-10 minutes before you cut it. Remove the twine, slice into 1-2 inch discs and serve.

We can’t eat meat all the time, no matter how much we wish it was possible. For those times when the circles of meatlessness and pizza overlap on your Venn diagram of hunger (how’s that for an intelligent reference) try our vegetable version. With classic Greek flavors this easy crowd pleaser is also great for using up leftover veggies (zucchini, peppers, extra greens, scallions, we could go on…) with minimal effort and maximum results.

Before anything else, wash off your red pepper and put it directly over the burner on your stove. If you don’t have a gas stove, pop into the oven directly on the baking rack for about 10-15 minutes. You want the skin to start burning and blistering so keep a close eye on it and rotate when one side gets too done; a crackling, popping noise means you’re headed in the right direction.

Let the pepper char up completely on each side before you turn it.

When your pepper is properly charred, put it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to sweat it out. While you’re waiting for it to steam peel and slice your onion crosswise into thin strips and do the same with your sundried tomatoes (the cutting into strips part, not the peeling part).

After about 5 minutes remove the pepper from the bowl, run it under hot water and rub the skin off. Cut in half lengthwise, remove the ribs and seeds and slice into thin strips lengthwise.

Peel your onion and slice it into thin discs, halfwise.

Throw a little flour on your baking sheet and spread out the pizza dough into the shape your heart desires. Drizzle some olive oil over the top and pop it into the oven for 5 minutes to let it firm up a bit.

Take the dough out and coat it with your artichoke spread. Layer on the red pepper strips, onion discs, sundried tomatoes and olives.

Crush the olives before you put them on so they cook down better and cover more pizza real estate.

Crumble some feta over the whole lot and sprinkle some dried oregano evenly over the top. Pop it back in the oven for another 10 minute, or until the crust is crisped to your liking. Pull it out, slice it up and take it down.

Our childhood was filled with simple food pleasures and baked chicken was one of the most magical. When we pressed our mom for the original recipe in an attempt to recapture some of that lost wonder she simply stated, “It’s chicken and cornflakes.” Duly noted. Here’s our take with a couple flavor additions to bring this comfort food standby into the 21st century. Use panko breadcrumbs for extra crunch that provides a fried chicken experience with half the guilt. Grab a spot on the picnic blanket and pass a napkin.

In one of your large mixing bowls pour in the panko breadcrumbs. Remove the cornflakes from the box but keep them in the sealed bag that they came in. Gently crush the cereal into smaller chunks (keeping it in the bag keeps the mess at a minimum) and mix them in with the breadcrumbs.

Crush up the cereal into smaller pieces but don't turn it to complete dust.

Add the cinnamon and chipotle powder along with a couple healthy pinches of salt and pepper. Stir it all together and set it aside.

In your other large container add the flour, cayenne pepper and another good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir things together with a fork so the seasonings are mixed evenly.

Crack the eggs into your small mixing bowl, pour in a splash of water and whisk it up with a fork. Arrange your bowls in this order on your working surface: flour, eggs, cereal mix.

Rinse the chicken off and trim any excess fat. Pat the pieces dry with a paper towel and prepare for dredging. Taking each piece individually coat them entirely in flour, dip them in egg, and coat them evenly in the cereal mix. Place each crispy-crusted piece in the baking pan and repeat until you’ve dredged all your chicken.

Coat each piece thoroughly with crunchy goodness.

Put the chicken in the oven for about 45 minutes then cut into a thigh to test the done-ness. If the juice runs clear you’re good to go. If it’s still got blood in it, pop it back in for another 10 minutes or so and re-check. Once it’s fully cooked let the chicken rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Hot Honey Preparation:

In a small bowl or mug pour in the honey and pop it in the microwave for 20 seconds or until it’s extremely runny.

Pour in the Frank’s Red Hot and stir until both are thoroughly incorporated. Use as a dip for individual bites of chicken or just douse the whole lot of it.